The Lobster
dir. Yorgos Lanthimos
Within the first few minutes of "The Lobster", we get a sense that this dystopian world of relationships and love is darkly and humorously similar to ours. The concept is simple: If you aren't married to someone, you are sent to a hotel where you have 45 days to find a suitable partner. If you don't find a partner within that timeframe, you get turned into an animal of your choosing. The hotel looks and feels like if a dating website like eHarmony became sentient and decided to manifest in our reality. The staff have strict rules and partake with the guests to hunting rebel escapees that live alone in the forest. These rebels have strict rules as well with an emphasis on no romantic relationships of any kind. We see and experience both these societies through the eyes of David, played by Colin Farrell, who just wants to find someone to love. Each group is a reflection on what is going on with romantic relationships today. There is the one side which encourages and somewhat forces you to get married and spread the fruitful seed and the other side which says that individuality without relationships is better and being totally alone and isolated works better for the society as a whole. Think eHarmony vs. an Extremist version of a Hippie commune. The story is much more than a social statement on relationship trends and tendencies. At its core, it is a romance between two people from two different groups and it works. If anyone ever says to you that all romance films these days are the same, point them to this movie and see if they change their tune after watching it.
The film balances the dark realities with hilarious humor quite well. Every scene and moment is unexpected and can range from light, quirky satire that makes you laugh out loud to black, violent realisms that make you cringe and squirm in your theater seat. The cast does a good job at doing this and it never feels like they're phoning it in or taking it at a tongue-in-cheek face value. The music is great at this as well as it indicates to you when you can laugh and when you shouldn't. Colin Farrell and Rachel Weisz have excellent chemistry together and I hope that they'll do another film like this together someday. I also really enjoyed the comradery of David's "friends" that he meets at the resort.
Director Yorgos Lanthimos has really tapped into the confusing and maze-like realities of modern day romance and relations. It has a similar (although this one is much more bleak) tone and parallel that director Spike Jonze showcased in his 2013 film, "HER". If you're looking for a perfect date movie, this is definitely not it. But, "The Lobster" is still a perfect pitch black satire that hits all the right notes and engages not only your emotions but your intellect as well long after you've experienced the film.
Rating: 5 Reels
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